Windows Phone Usage: February 2013

Continuing its monthly look at Windows Phone usage, mobile ad firm AdDuplex will this week report that Windows Phone 8 usage has slowed considerably, while the first Windows Phone 7.8 devices are starting to appear in its findings.

This month, Windows Phone 8 has risen to 26 percent of all Windows Phone handsets. But that’s a pretty small leap over the previous month, when it was 19 percent. This could be troubling news if you’re a fan of the platform.

On the flipside, usage of Windows Phone 7.8 is up: 16 percent of all Windows Phone 7.x handsets are now running the latest (and last) Windows Phone 7.x update. 84 percent are still running Windows Phone 7.5 or older. And over half of all Windows Phone 8 users are already on the hastily released “Portico” revision.

Of the top five most frequently-used Windows Phone handsets, only one comes with Windows Phone 8, and that device, the Lumia 920, represents just 10 percent of all Windows Phone usage. The Lumia 820, in 6th place, is used by 5 percent of users. And HTC racked up 7th and 8th place, with the 8X and 8S, respectively garnering 4 percent and 3 percent of overall usage.

Oddly, HTC is the second-biggest maker of Windows Phone handsets now, and I have to think the 8X has a lot to do with that. 13.7 percent of all Windows Phones in use are made by HTC, compared to just 6 percent for Samsung.